What makes a good "Backpacking" trail meal?

[CNYScouter]

I am in the same situation as GKlose in that we have a upcomming Camp-o-ree with a Backpacking meal competition and not sure how to judge this.

 

I thought I might take a different approach in asking the question

 

What makes a good "Backpacking" trail meal?

 

[packsaddle]

I wager it won't involve a cast iron dutch oven.

But the answer is going to be highly variable. It will depend on the degree to which LNT is followed, the hunger factor, the actual need for calories, how much the food weighs, etc.

I like to add water to some dirty rice or maybe some black beans and rice, and then add some dehydrated sausage slices and let it soak up the water for a while after it's cooked, maybe throw in some peanuts at the end. But if I'm hungry enough, I'll be happy with a can of cat food.

 

I was just talkiing, this weekend, to about a dozen different individuals that had started their through-hike of the AT and were about a week into the experience. We discussed this very topic. Almost all were looking forward to an opportunity to dump a lot of weight and they were unanimous that pretty much any kind of light-weight, high-calorie food would be just great. There were two powerful cravings that two of them mentioned. One was for a big wedge of blue cheese (weird, huh?) and the other one said he was almost ready to kill for a cold beer. But I doubt that either of those things will be part of the answers to your question.

[shortridge]

Yeah, it depends on whom you're talking too, I think!

 

For a competition, which areas you pick to grade don't really matter, as long as they're communicated to the patrols ahead of time. You don't want one patrol cooking a great-tasting meal, thinking that's what the goal is, but losing points because it took an hour vs. the 20 minutes another patrol took.

 

To me, it's something that doesn't require much - or any - cook or prep time. The best breakfast or lunch is one you can eat while walking, IMHO - no cooking involved. Dinners also require simplicity, but you have more time.

[mmhardy]

Freeze dried food from Mountain House is pretty good and widely available. Our troops common requirement is that each hiker is responsible for his own food/stove/water. This preps the boys for future High Adventure trips and rewards the creative. Trading and combining foods in the field is common between the hikers. Just like at Philmont.

 

Heavy items like fruit can be eaten first. Calorie content is important figure about 120 call/oz.

[mmhardy]

Opps. Misread your question. I would think that Weight, Taste, Calorie content, preparation are all ratable items to consider in your competition.

[Buffalo Skipper]

To answer your specific question:

 

1) Convenience of transport (weight and preservation)

2) Healthy (for the activity) and balanced

3) Ease of preperation and cooking

4) Ease of cleaning

5) Waste generated

6) Filling

7) Tasty

 

That does not necessarily provide you with a measurable competition, but if you had the judges rate each of these in a 1-10 scale, with each judge tasting one or two bites of each meal, you may get pretty fair judging.

[AnniePoo]

Three most important criteria:

 

(1) lightweight

(2) filling

(3) not vomit-inducing

[GKlose]

I'll follow up in the other thread, but I spent part of the weekend working on the plan for the "trail dinner" competition, and then last night at a camporee planning session I was promptly told (more or less) "too complicated".

 

I was looking to specify criteria for judging, and then also sort of summarizing that in a flyer to be handed out to patrols. I considered the top three categories to be finished food quality, weight of pre-cooked food, and creativity (this is how I planned to account for some people using commercial backpacking food and others doing something from scratch). This would be followed closely by ease of prep and ease of cleanup.

 

I wanted to work some kind of "Leave No Trace" points in, maybe by weighing leftover trash, and maybe giving points for stove use, versus fire use. Maybe something like that.

 

But the activity chairman sent me back to the drawing board, asking me to simplify the flyer, and the "specs" on the competition. He wanted more room for interpretation. I can understand his viewpoint, so I'm going to work on that this week.

 

Thanks, everybody -- I really appreciate the attention that has been paid to this topic.

 

Guy